Pages

Friday, September 20, 2013

If you have any fresh basil left, make pesto and then make this Chicken Stuffed with Pesto and Cheese!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and this recipe for Baked Chicken Stuffed with Pesto and Cheese is something I've made over and over. It's also been one of the most popular recipes on the blog for a while now; hope you enjoy if you haven't tried it yet!)

For several weeks now I've been keeping an eye on the basil plants in my garden, hoping to get one more batch of pesto in the freezer before the plants started to freeze. For the last few days the leaves were starting to look a little brown on the edges, so today I trimmed the plants vigorously and made a big batch of pesto. Then I made this Chicken Stuffed with Pesto and Cheese!

I'm always wanting to adapt recipes every time I make them, and when I looked at the old version of this I knew I wanted to change it. The newer version is for only two chicken breasts, and it's lighter and a bit simpler to make than the old recipe that I first posted in 2005. I greatly prefer the updated version, but I will leave the printer-friendly link for the old recipe in case anyone wants to compare or has the recipe bookmarked. And if you still have some basil growing where you live, please make pesto and make this delicious chicken dish as soon as possible!

Use very large chicken breasts for this and then pound the heck out of them until they're as thin as you can possibly get them!

Mix together pesto, sour cream, and grated mozzarella to make the stuffing. (If you use commercial pesto, it will probably be darker green than my homemade Basil Pesto with Lemon because I like it creamy.)

Spread a thin layer of the stuffing mixture over each chicken breast, stopping about 1/2 inch away from the edge.

Then roll up the chicken breasts and use toothpicks to keep them together. (Don't worry if they look a bit messy like my one in the back!)

Prepare two bowls, one with beaten eggs and the other with a mixture of parmesan and almond flour. (I used two eggs, but I think you could get by with one.)

Dip the chicken breasts first in the egg and then in the parmesan-almond flour mixture, patting it on so the chicken breasts are well coated. Place them in a sprayed casserole dish.

Bake at 375F/190C until the chicken is firm to the touch and slightly browned. I started checking at 30 minutes when they looked like this.

And I ended up leaving them in for 5 more minutes until they looked like this. Be careful not to overcook though, or the chicken will dry out. Serve hot.

Baked Chicken Stuffed with Pesto and Cheese
(Makes two servings, but recipe can easily be doubled or tripled; recipe created by Kalyn in 2005 and adapted again in 2011.)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray a small casserole dish with non-stick spray. Trim any visible fat from chicken breasts, then put them one at a time inside a heavy plastic bag and pound with meat mallet until the chicken is as thin as you can get it. Don't worry too much about the shape or whether there are some loose pieces, you can tuck them in when you roll up the chicken.

In a small bowl mix together the basil pesto, sour cream, and grated mozzarella. Use a rubber scraper to spread a thin layer of this mixture over each chicken breast, stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge of the chicken (so it doesn't run out so much as it cooks.) Roll up the chicken breasts and secure them with a couple of toothpicks. (I roll them so the finished piece is as thin as I can get it so they will cook quickly.)

Prepare two bowls, one with the beaten egg and the other with the grated Parmesan-almond flour mixture, seasoned with black pepper to taste. Dip each chicken breast roll first into the egg mixture and then into the Parmesan-almond flour mixture, patting it on so the chicken breast roll is well-coated with the mixture.

Put chicken breasts into the casserole dish and bake until the chicken is firm and lightly browned. (Start checking after about 25-30 minutes; total baking time will be 30-35 minutes.) Serve hot.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and Kalyn's Kitchen earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

ThankYou Kalyn!Fan-tas-tic recipe. I served it to my family and inlaws for a pre-superbowl dinner. They all went back for seconds. My picky 6yr old daughters plate was licked clean!Who knew all would have liked the pesto filling. It was easy and I had everything done in 1 hour. Leann

Thank you for the great recipe! I have been in phase 1 of SB for almost one week and I was starting to get bored with some of the foods. Thanks to you I had a delicious meal tonight that me and my 5 year old loved. Keep up the great work! I look forward to trying more of your recipes.

Made this last night, husband and I loved it! It looked a fright, though...I used some previously-frozen chicken breast, and the pounding turned into a mutilation of sorts. My poor chicken looked like an alien porcupine, what with all the toothpicks and oozing green stuff! But, we both just loved it. I did end up grinding my own almonds for the flour, and was excited with how easy it is to do I made extra and stuck it in the freezer. Yum yum yum!

Hi Kalyn! Before I had this blog I thought my name was very unusual, but I've heard from quite a few people with the same name. I pronounce it Kay Lynn (although lots of people say it wrong!) Is that how you pronounce yours?

Oh and by the way, I couldn't find almond flour or almond meal in my local supermarket. (I live in the country.Store manager didnt even know what I was asking for) so I got blanched slivered almonds and cuisinarted the hell out of them. Worked great.

Made this for the first time tonight and it was amazing! The only substitution I made was ground flax seed flour and used four normal size chicken breast - not very large. The chicken was juicy, flavorful with just the right amount of crisp on the outside. Love that it can be made mostly in advance, just roll in eggs & flour mixture & pop in the over when I get home from work & half an hour later dinner is ready!

Looks very good! I am planting a lot of basil plants between my tomato plants this year to help deter pests (trying for the first time this year to use herbs / flowers as pest control in my veggie garden; see http://thecountrybasket.com/herbs-flowers-to-naturally-control-deter-pests/). I've been wondering what to do with all this basil I hope to get, as I have never made pesto before (!!!), but this chicken dish will be fun to try! Thanks for the pesto recipe as well!

Carrie, I chose The South Beach Diet to manage my weight so I couldn't have to count calories, points, carbs, or fat grams, so I don't have that information. In the FAQ tab, I do recommend an online calorie cauculator you can use if you want to calculate it yourself.

This chicken is baking as we speak and I can't wait to try it! Serving with grilled zucchini. Thank you for all of your yummy posts. I have lost 8 pounds since the new year since we changed our eating habits! Thanks again :)

I've made this twice; beautiful, delicious! The second time I changed it a bit by putting a handful of fresh baby spinach over the pesto/sour cream mixture that I had spread on, and sprinkled some Feta cheese I had in the refrigerator that needed to be used. I made my own almond flour and added some smoky paprika to it, thinking it might give more color. I loved the spinach as it looked beautiful as you cut into the chicken and it was cooked perfectly. Both the original and my altered version were excellent. I see possibilities of the spinach and maybe some strips of sun dried tomato added. It is a recipe that can be altered in many ways, using different types of cheese/herbs, I would think, depending on what's on hand. Thank you for this recipe.

I was diagnosed pre-diabetic 3 years ago with a very low blood sugar of 32..took 3 blood tests to confirm. After deciding with my doctor that I would try changing my diet rather than taking a daily med to regulate my blood sugar..I am doing great!

Your recipes have made my low glycemic lifestyle easy and DELICIOUS!! I have told so many people about you and your great recipes! I have many favorites but always look forward to trying new things because everything you come up with is awesome! My husband and 2 children also love eating whatever is on the menu..so keep those recipes coming!

Michelle, glad it was a hit. If you stuff the chicken ahead of time, it would be best to let it come back to room temperature before baking. If that's not possible, you will probably need to bake for 5-10 minutes longer. (Letting it come to room temp is best though, because longer time in the oven can dry it out.)

I got a mixer for my birthday and have been making all kinds of sauces. I made the Basil Lemon Pesto and it was delicious then saw it used with the stuffed chicken. I had my first bite and the flavors together were great and it was so easy to do. My chicken was a little dry and I know all ovens are a little different. I cooked mine for the 35 minutes and I was wondering if this dryness is from cooking it too long?

Delicious recipe! I did have trouble stuffing/rolling my chicken, but I suppose like anything you get better at that with time. I posted about making this recipe on my blog and linked back to you. Can't wait to try your lemon basil pesto recipe next! Thanks for sharing.

These raggedy little puppies are in the oven now. They smell terrific. My husband was nervous about the pesto, but I had some homemade marinara sauce in the fridge and made another batch for him, substituting the pesto for marinara. (being the fast thinking short order cook) I can't wait to try them both. Thank you for the recipe!

I'm going to be trying this tonight. Except I have a brick of Jalepeno Havarti in the fridge that I'll use instead if Mozzarella and a bag of Coconut Flour instead of Almond Flour. I hope it turns out well!

This looks absolutely fabulous! After painting for three days, I am so sore it might have to wait. :-) I am 42 pounds down since the beginning of June and have made several of your yummy recipes. Thank you! And I love the new header.

I had non-dieting company last weekend and needed a recipe that could satisfy them without breaking my diet. I served these with mashed cauliflower and roasted asparagus and everyone loved it! They didn't even notice there wasn't any starchy sides.

Thankyou so much for this delicious recipe. I have made it for my dinner tonight with broccoli, carrots and mashed cauliflower but couldn't resist having some for lunch with a salad.YUM YUM YUM tastes as good as it looks. Thanks again.

I finally made this last night. I thought I had the sour cream, but I had Greek yogurt. So I just used that instead, and it was wonderful. Today, I cut up the second breast and put it on a bed of spinach with a light drizzle of oil & a squirt of a lemon wedge. It's just as good the next day!

My husband and I LOVE this! As college students we eat a ton of chicken which gets boring very quickly! Your chicken NEVER fails to satisfy! The hubby asks for it all the time. Thanks for the yummy recipe!

I buy almond flour already ground; there are several brands. I haven't tried making my own, but if you have blanched almonds without skins it will probably work. Just be careful or you'll end up with almond butter!

Cottage cheese means different things all over the world, so it's hard for me to answer without knowing where you are. But if you're in the U.S., full-fat cottage cheese might be okay, but I don't think it would be as good as Mozzarella.

This recipe looks so good! For someone like me who doesn't care for mozzarella (too bland), what other cheeses do you think might work well as a substitute with chicken/basil? Swiss? Or would that be too strong?

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

Comments don't appear on the blog until they're approved by me, so no need to try again if you don't see it when you post the comment! Please make your signature a link to your site if you're a blogger, but other links posted within the body of the comment will never be published.

Food Blogger Love!

Copyright Notice

All Photos and Original Text (C) Copyright: 2005-2015, By Kalyn's Kitchen® LLC. I grant permission for photos and recipe links to be copied to social media and other sites, but not recipe text. All Other Rights Reserved. (Other bloggers may post their adapted version of any recipe found here, with their own photos and recipe text, but please link back to the original inspiring recipe on this site.)

Kalyn's Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.